Kairos
by chasingafterstarlight
Summary: A moment of undetermined time in which something special happens./ A series of oneshots from all 3 generations, all pairings./ Taking requests now! Second chapter: Fred/Hermione, for mirage888, called A Difference in Taste.
1. Chapter 1

**Kairos**

_(_καιρός) _the right or opportune moment; a moment of undetermined time in which something special happens._

**One. Lily Evans/ James Potter- **_**I Don't Care**_

_Hey, playboy, it's about time, and your time is up. I had to do this one for my girls, you know. So__metimes you gotta act like you don't care. That's the only way you boys learn._

I Don't Care- 2NE1

She doesn't care.

That's the mantra she plays over and over in her head whenever she sees that Potter lad. He's forever tormenting everyone, but he's still quite popular, really, and now he's decided that he wants her. Which _should _be flattering, really. But somehow it's not. Unlike most other girls, she's never fancied him, never even thought about him that way.

But after she hears that he thinks of her, y'know, _that way, _she can't help but consider her feelings for him. The very idea scares her. Her having feelings for James Potter? _Impossible._

"Hey, Evans," James calls one day, brushing a piece of shaggy black hair out of his grey eyes. "Wanna come play a game with me and my friends?"

"The Git Group? No thanks," Lily snorts.

James blinks, unaffected. It's one of the things she loathes the most about him- no matter what she throws at him, his pride is still unaffected. "It's the Marauders, actually. And it's not as much of a game as it is a problem. We can't figure it out, and we figure you're the only girl smart enough to help us out."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Potter," Lily informs him. Her eyebrows go down as she glares at him.

"Well, what will get me somewhere?" James laughs. He doesn't care, either- doesn't care that he's annoying her to death, doesn't care that one day she might just give in and say yes. To him, that would be the best thing since prank stores.

"If you go away, I might hate you a little less," Lily offers, knowing he won't take her up on it. One of his 'best qualities' is his perseverance- something she hates right now.

"That's okay," James tells her, grinning in that stupid way of his. "I like being here."

"Of course you do," Lily sighs. One of her friends, Rylie Carson, comes up. Resting an arm on Lily's shoulder, she glares at James. "Hey, Lil. What do you want, Potter?"

"I was talking to Lily," James explains. "I need her to help me with a problem."

"There's no problem our Lily can't solve," Rylie grins, elbowing Lily in the gut. Lily wants to protest, but she knows it's true. The Gryffindor has always had a knack for solving whatever problems come their way. Some teachers (especially the Head of Ravenclaw) contradict the Sorting Hat's decision, saying Lily should have been in Ravenclaw. Beside her, Rylie nudges her again. "She'd be happy to help you- um- _children _with your problem."

Rylie loathes James and the Marauders; this is a known fact. However, she thinks that Lily and James look good together, so she takes every opportunity (even this one) to attempt to get them together.

It _never _works, and Lily wishes she'd realize this.

"She would?" James' eyes light up with pure happiness. Lily groans internally. _This won't end well_.

"Sure, she would," Rylie chuckles. "Go, Lily. Go help widdle James and Remus and Sirius and the worm lad."

"The worm lad?" James asks, confused.

Rylie raises an eyebrow. "Isn't that what you call him? Wormtail? I don't know his given name, sorry. I don't pay much attention to any of you." Tossing her dark brown hair over her shoulder, Rylie struts away, going to talk to her boyfriend of the moment.

"What is her problem?" James mutters in undertone before turning to Lily. "Come along, Lily. I'll show you what _our _problem is."

_I don't care about what your problem is, _Lily thinks furiously. _Rylie signed me up for this. I don't want to do it! I don't care about you!_

But she does care _just a little bit _about James' feelings and she does want somewhere deep inside to keep that happy (not smug, for once) grin on his face, so she follows him down the corridors to where the rest of the Marauders are gathered. Remus, the one of the group who is the _least _irritating, grins at her and James. "Wow, Prongs, you got Lily! We didn't think you could actually get her to come, Padfoot and Wormtail were placing bets-"

"I lost," Peter cries.

"I have more faith in you, mate," Sirius Black tells James, walking up and putting his arm around James. "But, y'see, Lily, we've got a pretty tough puzzle to solve that we need a little help with. Of course, we've got Moony, but the more the merrier."

"What do you need me to help you with?" Lily inquires quizzically.

"Just this little map here," James answers breezily. Slowly, carefully, he removes the map from the hands of Sirius and Remus. He then (_still so carefully) _hands it over to her.

At first, the map seems like a normal map. Then she notices the intricate handwriting that decorates the cover. "The Marauder's Map." Her head jerks up in shock. "You _made _this?"

"You sound surprised," James snickers.

"We're sort of smart," Sirius grins.

"I'm sort of smart," Remus contradicts. "They are pretty much incompetent in everything except getting girls and Quidditch."

"And Defence Against the Dark Arts!" James cries out.

"Yeah, they're okay in Defence Against the Dark Arts," Remus winks.

"Moony!" James exclaims. He turns to her, obviously wanting to impress her. "Lily, I'll have you know that my score on the OWLs in Defence Against the Dark Arts was _higher _than Remus' score."

"That's nice," Lily murmurs, not really caring. Or at least that's what she tells herself. She is actually a little bit impressed that incompetent James Potter gets higher than Remus, who _at least _got an Acceptable. Which means that James probably got an Exceeds Expectations or Outstanding, possibly higher than her Exceeds Expectations. And _that _means he isn't as stupid as she thinks him to be. If this is true, then it is possible she should reconsider her feelings for him.

That is something she does _not _want to do.

Because she doesn't care about him.

Really, she doesn't.

Even though no one believes her.

"Lily!" James' _annoying _voice yells. "Earth to Lily Evans!"

"I'm still on Earth, James," Lily sighs. "And sadly, so are you."

Remus tries to hide a snigger behind his hands, Sirius laughs out loud, and Peter looks shell-shocked. James just shrugs. "What happened to you? You zoned out for ten minutes or so."

"I was just thinking," Lily tells him. "Something that you obviously never do."

James puffs out his chest. Disappointment floods Lily as she realizes that she _still _hasn't hurt his pride a bit. "Why the sudden need to insult me, Evans?"

"No reason," Lily shrugs. "Just felt the need to speak truth for once."

"Good one," James rolls his eyes. "Anyway, since you're finally back, we need your help to find all the secret passages of Hogwarts."

"Oh, that's easy," Lily blurts. "I've already found three, when I was upset."

All of their heads turn to face her. Remus' face is happy, Sirius' and Peter's surprised, and James' is proud and excited.

"Four?" Sirius exclaims. "We- even with _Remus' _help- have only managed to find one!"

"Three, meathead," Remus smacks Sirius' head. "She's found _three._"

Sirius blushes, embarrassed. "Oh, yeah."

"Well, aren't you going to show us where they are?" James exclaims again.

"I suppose," Lily shrugs. "Follow me."

Excited as little kids with a pile of candy, the Marauders traipse behind Lily down the dark corridors of Hogwarts. Smirking, Lily tells them, "You know I _could _be leading you to your death."

"You're not a Slytherin, Evans," James sniggers. All of the other three laugh too.

"Slytherins aren't so bad," Lily growls. Finally, she stops at a corner. "See, this wall, it's a passage." She knocks on it twice, and then the brick falls apart. Grinning, she taps her foot twice more, and it puts itself back together again.

"That's terrific!" Sirius exclaims.

"How did you find this?" James asks, bug-eyed.

"I have my ways, Potter," Lily laughs. "So, who's going first?" She knocks on the brick again and it crumbles at her feet.

All of them being brave Gryffindors, they all raise their hands at the same time. Rolling her eyes, Lily states, "I'm going first. All of you, follow me."

She steps in carefully, James following her. Suddenly, Peter trips and the wall closes off.

"Oh, Merlin!" She curses.

"What's going on, Lily?" James asks, worried.

"Nothing, except we're kindofsortofstuckinhere," Lily mutters quickly.

His eyes widen. "_What?_"

"We're kind of sort of stuck in here," Lily repeats, stretching out her words.

"What do you mean, we're kind of sort of stuck in here?" James asks.

"We're stuck, all right?" Lily hissed. "This is a secret hiding spot I discovered a while ago. It doesn't open from the inside, only the outside, if someone knows the password."

"Didn't you just show them the password?" James asks.

Lily sighs at her own stupidity. She'd always written off James as the stupid one- but hey, she'd never have guessed that she'd ever be in this situation! "No. The clapping was a distraction. I was doing something else."

Green eyes lighting up with interest, James questions, "What did you do?"

"I'm not telling you, Potter," Lily sighs, leaning against the door. "But anyway, this won't open for a good hour. That's the downfall of this hiding spot."

"And you didn't tell us beforehand because...?" James wonders.

Leaning farther down against the door, Lily whispers, "I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Some surprise," James grumbles, but somehow he is able to keep grinning. He's always been a cheerful one, which bothers Lily somehow.

_You don't care, Evans, _she reminds herself. But that's only on the outside. On the inside, she knows she really does for some reason. "Why are you always so cheerful?"

"For what reason should I be upset?" James replies. "I'm stuck in here with a beautiful girl, aren't I?"

Lily sighs. "Don't go doing that conceited prat thing on me now, Potter. I was actually starting to think you were decent."

"Fine, fine," James quiets himself. Finally, he asks, "How long now?"

"Forty minutes," Lily replies. It's quiet for another five minutes before James speaks up again.

"I'm bored, Evans."

"So?" She crosses and uncrosses her feet to keep them from falling asleep.

"Entertain me, won't you?" He requests.

"What do you want me to do, do a dance in this little enclosed space?" She sniggers.

"Can't you at least talk?" he begs.

"What about?" She frowns.

"I don't know," James crosses his legs too, to mimic hers. "How much you fancy me?"

"I don't fancy you, James," Lily growls.

James smirks widely. "Ooh, you said my name. But why don't you ? Fancy me, I mean? I fancy you."

"Obviously," Lily grumbles. "I don't know. I don't go for conceited gits."

It's quiet again, and Lily learns to savour the silence before James says something else. "I'm not just a conceited git."

"You aren't?" Lily answers in false surprise.

"No!" James exclaims. "I'm also funny, and good at defending myself, and romantic-"

"And that's all great," Lily frowns. "But you have no respect for others' feelings."

"I respect yours," James says quietly.

And then it is quiet again.

Lily is the first to speak. "Do you?"

"Do I what?" James asks.

"Respect my feelings?" Her voice is harsh. She sees the wince on James' face, and she feels like wincing too. _You don't care, _she reminds herself. Even she finds that hard to believe now.

"I do," James tells her. "I've fancied you since first year, did you know that? I watched you as you went through boy after boy. None of them were good enough for you, I knew that. But you seemed _happy _and as long as you were happy, so was I. I tried to stay out of your life; I knew I wasn't good for you. But I couldn't do it. I'm sorry."

"Wow, James," She looks up at him. "That was surprisingly deep- for a Marauder."

Then he laughs, breaking the tension, and she does too. Finally, he leans over and gives her a quick kiss.

"And that was surprisingly deep, for a Evans," He replies.

_You don't care, _she says to her fluttering heart.

And she wonders when she's going to stop lying to herself.

**A/N: All right. Here's my latest project.**

**It's a GROUP of oneshots, all about different HP pairings. But here's what makes it different than others- I'm taking requests. **

**However, I will set up some rules.**

**First, I will **_**not **_**do requests that involve large age gaps (over eleven years. TeddyLily is as high as I go.) So I will do TeddyLily or LucyLorcan or BillLuna or something like that, but no SeverusHermione cause that is just too creepy. And I'm really sorry, but I don't _do _slash/incest/cousincest. Cause to me, it's kind of weird. But het!pairings that don't have an unreasonable age gap or creepy relationship are all accepted. And I could do girl/girl boy/boy or unreasonable age gap _friendship. _Like AlbusScorpius friendship is fine.**

**Second, people must stay within their era, and I'm doing three eras: Marauder Era, Harry Era, Next Generation Era.**

**Third, you can give anything you want! You can give me up to **_**three **_**pairings for one story, a word, a song, an object, a scenario, even a plot if you want.**

**Fourth, OCs are accepted. If they are my own (such as Natalie, Dawson, y' know), they will definitely be used, but if it is your own, I will look over it and **_**possibly **_**(probably) do it.**

**Fifth, don't overload, but you can send as many as you want!**

**Sixth, accept that I **_**will **_**do better on some pairings than others. I, admittedly, will not write LilyLysander as well as MollyLysander, I think. **

**Seventh, be creative! AND SEND YOUR REQUESTS!**

**So what are you waiting for? SEND REQUESTS & REVIEW!**


	2. A Difference in Taste FredHermione

**Kairos**

_(_καιρός) _the right or opportune moment; a moment of undetermined time in which something special happens._

2. _A Difference in Taste_

"**A difference of taste in jokes is a great strain on the affections." **_**George Eliot**_

_Fred/Hermione- for __mirage888_

It's her third year, making it his fifth (_two years isn't that big a distance, though)_. He's sitting on the steps outside of Zonko's, staring wistfully at the sky. Cautiously, she sits down beside him. "Why aren't you with George?"

"Why aren't you with Harry and Ron?" His mouth slowly curves up into his usual smile. "Same thing, isn't it?"

"I suppose," Hermione taps her chin. "But it's a bit strange to be sitting on the steps of Zonko's alone."

Fred nods. "True. But it's also a bit strange of you to join me."

"I was doing you a favour," Hermione turns to stare him in his big blue eyes. She cocks her head just a little bit unconsciously. "I am kind, you know, unlike you, and I enjoy trying to figure you out. But if you don't want me here-"

"Kind, eh?" Fred interrupts. Reaching over, he tickles her lightly in the area where she's most ticklish. Unconsciously, she laughs- she can't really help it. She turns to smile at him, brown curls falling in her face messily. Then, just to tease him even more, she starts to stand up. He grabs her arm. "No, Moany Hermione, don't go!"

"Fine," She pretends to pout. "If you care that deeply-"

"Oh, I do," He's playing the part perfectly. His eyes are depths of blue, swimming with fake tears, and Hermione can't help but think that he'd be a perfect actor. Still acting, he requests, "Please have a seat, my dear Hermione."

"Whatever you ask, my sir," She beams, sinking slowly back on to the black marble. "You never did explain. Why are you sitting by your lonesome self on the steps of Zonko's? It's not a common hobby, y'know."

"I am fully aware of that," Fred grins. "However, I do some uncommon things. For example, I dream of owning a joke business much like this one someday."

"Oh, yeah," Hermione remembers. Suddenly, the marble steps aren't just marble steps; they're the gateway to the shop that Fred and his twin George dream of. "Any progress with that?"

"Nope," Fred says glumly, face just a bit more downcast. "Mum absolutely refuses to let us own our own joke shop. Says it's not a reputable profession, two clever boys like the pair of us should be Aurors or something of the like- but it's just not for us, you know?"

"You two as Aurors?" Hermione tries not to snicker.

"Hey!" Fred protests. "It's entirely possible."

"Is not," Hermione tells him, trying to imagine it. They'd end up cracking a joke, and all of them, including the dangerous criminal, would be sitting there laughing until they cried. Either that, or they'd go around pranking the Death Eaters- a Muggle Whoopie Cushion for Lucius Malfoy, fake moustaches for the Lestranges. "You'd probably put fake moustaches on the Lestranges or something."

"What?" Fred chokes out, and then dissolves into laughter at just the mental picture. Frowning, Hermione taps her foot on the cold stone repeatedly until his laughter finally ceases.

Sighing, Hermione states, "I suppose this is what they call a different taste in humour. I always thought it was a load of rubbish until now."

"Yeah," Fred winces. Silence falls over them for a few minutes until Fred breaks it. "I want to own a joke shop someday."

"You do?" Hermione turns to face him, surprised.

"Yeah," Fred grins wickedly. "It would be here, at Diagon Alley, to compete with Zonko's- every business needs some competition, if you ask me. George would own it with me, and we'd have billions of customers pouring in every day to buy our products. We're already putting together some _basic_ order forms, next year we'll give them out- you wouldn't be interested in some Puking Pastilles, would you? Fourth year is the hardest, I hear."

"I'll consider it next year," Hermione laughed. "Honestly, Fred, one of these days you're going to earn detention. If I was prefect, you'd have all too many by now."

"But you're only third year," Fred grins wickedly. "And I'm fifth- it's a good thing I'm not prefect, George and I would get away with too much."

Hermione nods earnestly. "That's too true. I'm glad Dumbledore is too wise to be fooled by the lot of you."

"But honestly, Moany Hermione, you watch. In fifteen years, this business will be booming. Thousands of customers, pouring in from all over the wizarding world," He waves his hand around, as if trying to convey something or paint a picture for her. Hermione doesn't see anything at all.

Smiling softly, she covers his hand with her own and squeezes it _just a little bit_. "I'm sure you will, Fred. And I'll come have a look- I'm not buying anything, of course. No way would I _ever _allow myself to get caught with this sort of illegal stuff."

"It's not illegal," Fred counters.

"It is at Hogwarts," Hermione reprimands. "Do you honestly think Dumbledore or _McGonagall _would approve of these things?"

Frowning, Fred appears deep in thought. "Dumbledore, maybe. But McGonagall, probably not."

"So it's illegal then," Hermione smirks.

Fred shakes his head. "Just watch. Promise me, Moany, that you'll come back here fifteen years from now, to _Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, _and look at all the business we'll have. Promise me you'll look around, at least, if not buy something. Hopefully you'll have loosened up a bit by then."

"Fine, I promise," Hermione shakes her head, as if he's some silly little child. "Maybe you'll actually prove me wrong."

_Fifteen Years Later_

Hermione Granger-Weasley appeared at the door to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Rose was clutching on to one of her hands, and Hugo on the other, who was talking animatedly with his older cousin Fred II.

"Fifteen years," she whispered to the rushing wind. "It's been fifteen years already."

As not to contradict Fred's words, the shop was booming with business. A rush of sadness filled Hermione as she thought of Fred's death eleven years previous. Without Fred, George and his wife Angelina (with some help from their children Fred II and Roxanne) were still running the shop, but it was obvious to almost anyone that the hole Fred used to fill existed there.

Sadly, the reminder of the promise she'd made to Fred at the age of thirteen still nagged at her. Tugging on her children's hands, she said, "Come along."

"We're going inside?" an ecstatic Hugo questioned.

"Awesome! Come on, Aunt Hermione, Hugo, Rose! I'll give you a tour!" Fred Weasley, who was somewhat near an exact replica of his namesake, dragged Hugo inside. Hugo let go of his mother to follow his cousin. Apprehensively, Rose glanced up at her mother.

"Shall we go inside?" She asked, tugging a bit on her mom's hand.

Inhaling deeply, Hermione opened the doors. The store seemed just as she'd seen it as a schoolgirl- people rushing around, enjoying the pranks and toys in store for them. Rose let go over her then, running over to a display of rare animals. Hermione walked slowly over to a crate of stones. Picking up one, she noticed it read, "_In Memory of the Best Owner of this Store There Ever Was, Fred Weasley. It was his dream to create this place."_

Stone clutched tightly in her hand, she said to the sky, "Well, Fred, looks like you got your dream. If only you were still here to see it. I wish."

Though there was no wind inside, Hermione could have sworn she felt a breeze brush her. She wasn't a superstitious person. But she could still have sworn she heard someone whisper, "I am still here."

Smiling just a bit, she took the hand she still clutched in her hand over to the register. As George rang her up, he shared a smile with her, as if there was something he understood.

_You proved me wrong, Fred_, Hermione thought in her head. _And I bought something from your store. It's booming, just like you said._

The wind blew inside the store again, and she smiled secretly to herself as Rose and Hugo attacked her, things they wanted to buy piled in their hands.

_I miss you, Fred._

_We all do._

**A/N: Aw, sad! Well, that one was by request of the lovely mirage888, who has reviewed most of my stories, whether HP or iCarly! So thanks, mirage888, and that one's for you! Sorry that I made it sad though. I'm not sure if I got Fred/Hermione exactly right... I've never written for them before.**

**But looks like I've gotten quite a few requests! I'll be doing so far: Remus/OC (sorry, not Tonks, because it's a school days story), Hagrid/ Madam Maxime, Katie/Oliver (should be fun!), Rose/Scorpius (YAY! Next gen :D I love!), Teddy/Victoire (yay! Another next-gen!), Marauders 4-Some gen. Thanks to mirage888, ilovemybestfriends, Romance and Musicals, and Frissa for reviewing, I'll get to ALL of your ideas!**

**Got any more pairings? Review! Got a prompt for one of the above pairings? Review! I'll do whatever, so long as it's not cross-gen or slash or incest! Come on, be creative, I ESPECIALLY need prompts!**

**REVIEW!**


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